Creativity is Overrated
by Failure Turtle
Summary: Freaks stick together. CandicexJohnxMariaxJeff
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Ugh, I'm still really upset about my laptop. This computer doesn't have Microsoft Word, and I don't really like Open Office...But whatever. I'll deal. Anyways, this is my first attempt at a high school fic. I really think that most of these are poorly done...And I'm just looking for any excuse to shed two of my least favorite Divas in a different light...Enjoy.**

The scars were just beginning to fade.

Maria looked down at her left wrist. Sure, it had been a week since she last cut herself, but there was still some physical evidence. She never really cut that deep to begin with. She wasn't doing this for attention. She was doing it to feel better about herself. Yes, it was a messed up thing to be doing, but Maria understood, and that was good enough for her.

The bubblegum pop ringtone went off from her phone that was sitting on her computer desk. Her best friend, Candice, was calling.

"Hello?" Maria sighed.

"Hey, girl! Are you ready for school yet?" Candice asked, her usual bubbly tone sounding very chipper this morning.

Maria looked over her shoulder and into her mirror on the wall. Her hair was a mess. Her makeup wasn't quite finished yet. She was still wearing the same black sweatpants she woke up in. "Yeah, I'm ready," Maria decided. She didn't like to make Candice wait on her. It was nice enough that her best friend was nice enough to take her to school everyday. There was no need to put her though more stress by making her wait.

Maria grabbed her bookbag and slowly walked downstairs, trying not to wake up her mother. Her father would be home any minute, and she surely didn't want to be home when he arrived.

"Hey!" Candice yelled as she waved from her candy apple red convertible that currently had the top down. Maria mustered a small wave back, joined with a less than enthusiastic smile.

It was then that Maria wondered why she and Candice had remained friends. They were inseparable throughout middle school, but high school was a shark tank. While Candice developed, Maria still had the body of a twelve year old boy. Candice made the cheerleading squad while Maria took no part in after school activities, let alone sports of any kind. Candice had a different date every weekend, but Maria couldn't even get a guy to look at her with the slightest bit of interest. While Candice dabbled in everything pink, Maria drifted more towards the other end of the spectrum, dying her hair black and red being the closest thing she ever got to pink.

But Maria had hated what she had become, and she wanted nothing more than to be just like Candice. She was so jealous of her best friend that it hurt. And part of why she cut herself was to punish herself for not letting herself be who she wanted to be. She was trapped in her own darkness, dying to get out.

Almost literally.

* * *

Jeff Hardy was no stranger to the darker side of the spectrum. He fashioned himself to be artistic, and he showed it in every way possible. At his old school, he won many art shows. He was the president of his high school's band, playing the drums and forming their first ever drum line. But along with expressing his creativity, popularity wasn't exactly his forte. No one cared that some kid had more talent in one pink than they could ever hope to have in their entire bodies. No one cared that they might one day be working for the kid dressed in all black with the rainbow hair that they used to make fun of.

A new school meant a new start, and Jeff was hoping for the best.

With his older brother now married and out of the house, his parents found no ties binding themselves to their residence. Jeff, however, felt a bit differently. As much as he didn't fancy some of the kids at his school, it was still _his_ school.

It was home.

He had no girlfriend to say goodbye to. As friendly as he was, he had no real friends to part ways with. The hardest thing to him was to say goodbye to the murals that he painted on his walls, sidewalk, and driveway, not to mention the many pieces displayed in cases in the art room of his school.

He had heard new things about the town he would be moving to: New Ridge. It was rumored to be populated with stuck up snobs with more money than they could count in a week. Everything was bright and cheery. Nothing was dark or depressing.

Jeff was determined to show them the light in the darkness, and that not all darkness was depressing.

* * *

Candice bobbed her head to the upbeat tempo as she drove herself and Maria to school. She was something of a princess at New Ridge High School, and she knew it. However, she tried not to rub it in Maria's face. Not many kids liked Maria, and often wondered why Candice was friends with her. They asked Candice if she felt sorry for Maria. Candice would always just say that Maria was the best friend she could have. She prayed that would make other kids like Maria, but that definitely wasn't the case. It made Candice's so-called ladies in waiting hate her even more, therefore causing more of the school to hate her.

Candice knew about Maria's cutting, but never spoke of it. As long as she didn't see it, Maria could do what she pleased. Candice knew that she couldn't stop Maria, even if she wanted to. Maria wasn't easily persuaded. Candice always figured that's why Maria never opened up like she had.

"Thanks for the ride, Candice," Maria smiled, getting out of the convertible.

"Hey, do you want to go to the mall after school?" Candice called out of the window as she closed the top of her car.

Maria knew that this was just going to be another one of Candice's attempts to turn her into a girly girl. Even though that was something that Maria dearly wanted, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was afraid, and would rather hide in safety than take a head first plunge into the world of pink and pearls. "No, thanks. I've got to do some family stuff," Maria lied. She would never be caught dead doing family things. Ever. "I'll see you later!" she said as she walked off to her next class.

"Candice! You're finally here!" Eve cheered, scuttling up to Candice in her heels. Eve was one of those "ladies in waiting." She eyed the retreating form of Maria and gave her a disapproving look. "Candice, I'm sure Maria is a nice girl, but seriously? Her? She's so...weird."

"Eve, I've told you before. I love Maria. She's my best friend. Nothing is going to change that."


	2. Chapter 2

Jeff didn't like this new school very much.

As he hopped out of his car, he could see what he had heard about this school was true. The cliques were easily distinguishable. It was not to say that his old school didn't come complete with cliques, but he didn't really remember them. Or maybe he was just used to his old school.

His eyes fell upon who he perceived to be the "big boys" on campus. They were playing catch with a football on the large hill in front of the school. Not to far from them were the girls in pink who probably worshiped the ground the football players walked on. And not too far from them were the cheerleaders who were shooting daggers at the other girls. They were probably mortal enemies, but exactly the same in their narcissism.

Over by the trees sat a group that Jeff would find himself very comfortable in if he knew the kids. They seemed to be just like him, but he knew that looks could be deceiving. Maybe they didn't see the beauty of the trees they were sitting under. But still, he approached them.

"Hi, I'm new here. My name is Jeff," he said, extending his hand to whom he assumed to be the so called leader of the group.

"'Sup? My names Ted," he said, shaking Jeff's hand. "This here is Cody, Ashley, Adam, and Nattie," Ted introduced, going around the group. "So, Jeff, where did you come from?"

"Baker High," Jeff said, nodding.

"Baker High, huh?" Adam said, running both hands through his blonde hair. "I dated a chick from there once. She was kind of cool."

"Do you think I'd know her?" Jeff asked.

"Nah, I dated her when I was in sixth grade and she was a junior in high school," he grinned.

"You're such a pig, Adam," Ashley said.

"Go stare at Morrison on the hill if you don't like it, Ashley," Edge suggested, pointing to where the football players were.

"Well, look who decided to finally join us," Cody noted, looking past Jeff.

Two girls had approached the group. One looked as if she should belong to either the group of cheerleaders or the group that hated the cheerleaders, maybe even both at the same time. The other one looked as if she'd be more comfortable sitting here with the darker group.

"I'll see you later, Maria!" the girl in all pink squealed, hugging the other girl. This was something that Jeff didn't expect from this school. A bubblegum princess hugging a freak? Maybe things weren't so bad here, after all.

"Gah, I can't believe you're friends with that trap," Nattie muttered once Maria had taken a seat next to her.

"Nats, she's my best friend, and it's been that way forever. And I'm sick of--" Maria stopped herself when she saw that they had a visitor. "Who are you?"

"My name's Jeff. I'm new."

"Oh. Hi. I'm Maria. So anyways," Maria continued, whispering in Nattie's ear.

"She's a little...different from us," Ted said, rolling his eyes. "For some reason, she worships that Candice girl she was just hugging."

"I can see why, though," Jeff said, turning around and watching Candice rejoin the girls she looked like she belonged with. "She's something else."

"Yeah, but she's dumb as rocks," Cody said, picking up a rock close to him and chucking it at some random car, but falling short.

"What did you say, punk?" a beefy guy said, overhearing what Cody had said about Candice.

"Dave, go away or I'll light your jersey on fire while you're wearing it," Cody threatened, pulling a lighter out of his pocket and flicking it open, the flame swaying gently in the fall breeze.

"Is that a threat?" Dave asked, holding his football to his side.

"Threat? Is that on your word of the day calendar?" Adam said, coming to Cody's defense.

"You know what?"

"What?" Ted answered, standing up and going chest to chest with the football player.

"I'm going to--"

"Fetch!" Ted yelled, taking the football out of Dave's grasp and throwing it like a grenade across the parking lot, landing on the hill that was very far away.

"DiBiase!" an older man hollered from a parked car. "I like you!"

"Coach, you give me detention daily in gym class," Ted said, rolling his eyes.

"That's because I don't like you. But I like you for the football team. You could be starting quarterback with a cannon like that. What do you say?"

"I say that I'd rather choke on nuts than be under your command for more than five hours a week," Ted retorted.

"That's it! A mouth like that deserves detention!"

"Just add it to my list. Cody and I are staying after school every day for the rest of the year already, and it's only the first day of school."

"You are something else, DiBiase. I won't forget this!"

Ted rolled his eyes at the coach's antics. "Dave, aren't you going to leave now?"

"It's a good thing you aren't joining the football team. I'd make it my goal to make sure that you were injured so you couldn't take _my_ quarterback spot."


End file.
